Thursday, January 29, 2015

Into The Wild - Inspired By Reading Book Club

More than a year ago, I joined the Inspired By Reading Book Club, hosted by Andrew Thornton. After reading the selection of the month, participants are inspired to create. While most of us do create jewelry, it's definitely not a requirement. We'd love to see other artistic mediums.

I was playing along quite well until last August, when we sold our house and I moved twice. I read the books, bought or created components, and have several finished and half-finished pieces hanging around. I hope to compose a catch-up post next month.

So, now that the studio is set up and I've found most of my tools and supplies, I'm ready to play again!

This month we readInto the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It is the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man in his 20's, from an affluent family, who decided to give away all of his money and venture alone into the Alaskan wilderness. Sadly after 4 months, probably due to his inexperience and naivete, McCandless perished.

Krakauer included historical references to adventurers and mountain climbers, as well as comparisons to his own experiences. My inspiration came when I read about Krakauer's obsession with Devil's Thumb. a mountain in the Stikine Ice Cap region of south east Alaska.

The name and description immediately brought to mind an artist bead I purchased just before Christmas at the Wake Forest Farmer's Market.

I know...
It didn't really scream Alaska to me, either.
But... do you get the thumb???

And we're supposed to be inspired ~ no one said it had to be an exact representation.

The bead did scream Sleeping Beauty Turquoise. Happily, I had some left from last year's Tucson trip. That and some chocolate brown freshwater pearls ~ Wah-La

I kept it super simple this month, because I am still getting my act together.

The pendant did pose a slight design challenge as the hole was slightly off center at the base.
I flattened 18 gauge silver wire to form a loop so it wouldn't look quite as lop-sided.

Now for the freaky part ~~~
This morning, I decided to research Devil's Thumb.

We’d
love for you join us next month! Our book is Geek Love, by KatherineDunn. It’s a bit bizarre, but I can’t put it down. I actually stayed on the
stationary bike at the gym for 40 minutes because I didn't want to stop
reading!

6 comments:

Wow! What an uncanny resemblance! That art bead is gorgeous and we never would have known you had a design challenge with the hole if you hadn't told us... great solution. There's nothing wrong with keeping it simple. The chocolate brown pearls, silver, and turquoise play so well together!

I love this piece! That pendant is spot on for Devil's Thumb! I loved that story too-I can't imagine climbing up that! I've been out of the group too for the last several months due to a cross country move as well. I moved from TN to Maryland, which is still the South, only barely :)XO Rachel

I think your piece embodies the spirit of the mountain motif nicely! The necklace you've made has a really luxurious feel and I think it's perfection! As far as the author's insertion of his own story into the book, I wasn't super impressed. I sort of felt it glorified that potentially deadly wanderlust. I know that he was trying to relate to Chris's story with his own and show that there are others who have struggled with their own issues by challenging themselves, but I don't know. I sort of felt like the others in the bar after he came down from the mountain. I didn't really care. I should be more sympathetic, but really I thought the examples he gave were of spoiled, self-indulgent restless spirits. While I don't like the reference, I do like your piece! Ha ha ha! Thanks so much for participating! I appreciate all your energy and even if you didn't always get to play along, I know your heart has been in it!

About Me

I create beautiful, affordable handcrafted jewelry using gems, pearls and assorted metals.
I retired in 2013 after teaching for 33 years - the last 20 in first grade.
We recently moved from Southampton, NY to North Carolina. I'm adjusting.